Railway passenger vehicle step and door construction

ABSTRACT

A railway passenger vehicle step and side skirt arrangement including a door receiving portion and having beam members secured to the corner posts and side sill of the vehicle body to form a reinforced corner structure wherein the steps are concealed completely from the elements when the door is in a closed position thereby keeping the stairs free of debris.

United States Patent 11 1 Cox et a1.

[ RAILWAY PASSENGER VEHICLE STEP AND DOOR CONSTRUCTION [75] Inventors:John M. Cox, Calumet Park; Robert J. Kunst, Chicago, both of 1ll.;Norman M. Szala, Hammond, Ind.

[73] Assignee: Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Oct. 14, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 189,303

[52] US. Cl 105/343, 105/398, 105/443 [51] Int. Cl B6ld 19/00, B6ld23/02 [58] Field of Search 105/443-450, 422, 377,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 403,176 5/1889 Brown, Jr.105/343 Pflager l()5/398 Primary ExaminerGerald M. Forlenza AssistantExaminerRichard A. Bertsch Att0meyHilmond O. Vogel et a1.

[5 7 ABSTRACT A railway passenger vehicle step and side skirtarrangement including a door receiving portion and having beam memberssecured to the comer posts and side sill of the vehicle body to form areinforced corner structure wherein the steps are concealed completelyfrom the elements when the door is in a closed position thereby keepingthe stairs free of debris.

8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures vmrmnnm: M975 sum 1 a? 3 VJ DD gum DU BU figPMENTH] BEE 41973 SHEET 2 UP 3 and occasionally rendering thestairsdangerous byfan 15"" accumulation of snow' or ice. The present=invention"ineludes a door'extending downwardlywbeyon level andreceivable withina reinfoi'eed' skirt-section whieh'prevents a buildup'of debris on* th e"stair s and" keeps mestairssafe for passengerusage; anddoor receiving portionalso inelude rein orc'ed structuralmembers which communicatebetween the corner posts and 'thevhicle sidesillto frnr' a -reiri forced section at 'each corner'of'tlie-vehiclebodyi SUMMARY This invention is applied to a railway-passenger 'vehn cleto provide a'step assemblybfoningress and egresswherein the steps areprotected fromthe 'elenientsand thereby kept clean by 'a' slidingfdoorhavirig ia step protecting, portion. The lower' portion of door isreceivable in a skirt section assemblyiwlii'ehdepends' from th e sidesill of the vehicle and connectstl'ie side sill with the corner posts totherebyfforiii a-reinforced side comer section. Panel sections arealsoprovided fer use as access doors to auxiliary' equiprnenfi- These andother "objects of the in'vei'iti'or fwill become apparent from referenceto the followingqdescription appended claims and attached drawings)BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view' of'a-rai lwayipassen ger vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a removed portion of the'corn'erseetion ofthe vehicleillustrated in FIG. 1 and greatly'renlarg'ed for 45 purposes of clarity;

FIG. 3 is a sectiona FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along lined flof FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view-takenalong line-'5 5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken ale FIG. 2; and" extends downwardlyateach of the four corners of the vehicle from the sidesill-262Each'comer of thevehicle is reinforced by a comer post-28 whichjoins the end and side assemblies'rigidly together;

Referring now'in particular to FIGS.- 2 through 7 the novel sideskirtand step arrangement of the present inven-ti'onwill be discussed. Thestep. and skirt assembly 24" includes a door storage portion 29 having"outer c0ver 'sheets'30, 3l comprising essentially a thin sheet rnemberrigidly secured to reinforcing, posts. Connecting pl'ates 34; 34a arefastened 'atop. this outer rein forced portion to provide for aconnection between the bottom flange plate-35' of the side sill' 26'-andthe outer coverpor'tions 30; 31 of the side skirt assembly. Sheetextending-angle member=38i The cover plate 34-ex tends "betwee'n th'e'post'member 40 and the spaced Tli'e sidesklm20 tc; the termination ofthe skirt assembly 24. A Z-shaped diagonally}extendingareinforcingmember 42 connects the'h atsha'ped members40 and 43 and provides areinforcedsection therein.

Theinteriorside of the car skirt portion has an inner "skin"4 i which.includes a'pair of adjacent individual sheet members-44a, 44b which arefastened by means of i the channel shaped connecting and reinforcingmember 45a. A vertically extending channel reinforces this innerskin 44and is best'illustrated in FIG. 5 and lower; des'i'gnat ed as 45b.Spaced about the opening which providesfor' rnovement and storage of thedoor 18 are a pair 'of'gui'de' clip-members 46and 47 which also providemounting and attaching surfaces for the sheet members 30 "and Adjacentthis doorstorage portion is a skirt end portion designated bythe-numeral 50 and best illustrated in FIG." 2! The skirt end portion 50provides .for a structurallyr sound transition between the. door storagesection 29 mm the sidesill 26, and also accommodates accessto equipmentsuch aspipeing and valve and control'meanswhichmay be concealed underthis skirt end portion; An end triangular portion 52 provides theterminating transition piece between the side step and skirtassernblywand the side sill. Positioned towards the end of the car l2and away'from member 52 is a hinged access door-53a which permitsconcealment of valves or electrical connectors which may be used inservicing equipment. Surrounding these openings is an outer skin member'54 having a top portion connected to an angle member 56'an'dattached-to a vertically extending reinforcin'g angle member 58. Theouter skin 54 also includes an inwardly extending flange portion forattachment'to the Z-shaped angle connecting and reinforcingrnember 62(see FIG. 6). A Z-shaped angle member 64- extends alongthe bottomportionof the opening- 53a and thereby forms a connection betweenan'innerwall portion 66' which forms the rear of the box-shaped opening53b. I

door l8 'contains the usual stair assembly having vertically P andhorizontally 1 interconnected stair members 70, 701! respectively toprovide for efficient movement of 'passengersinto and from the vehicle.Extending be nea'th' and reinforcing and sup-porting the bottomhorizontall'y extending stairmember 70a is a step support extrusion 72havingan electric heater strip to prevent ice-formation and alsohavingfinger members-73a, 73b,

member 3'l 'is "attached to and reinforced by vertically.

The door opening 16" which is traversed by the sliding:

73c, 73d extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom and receivingcover plates 74, 76 to thereby form an enclosed beam having hollowportions for structural integrity and light weight. By extruding themain body portion and completing the cross section by welding coverplate members thereto an economical member having virtually any requiredcross section may be fonned. The support extrusion 72 is a continuousmember extending between the corner post extension 77, which is fixedlyattached thereto, and the bottom portion of the reinforcing channelmember 41 and post member 40 to thereby form a structurally soundconnection between the comer posts 28 and the door receiving and storingportion 29 of the step and skirt assembly 24. Therefore it is noticedthat the corner is additionally reinforced by the step and skirtassembly 24 by virtue of this support extrusion 72 which communicatesbetween the reinforced door receiving portion and the vehicle comerposts 28.

Thus, it has been disclosedthat a side step and skirt assembly 24 havingreinforced portions and including a step support extrusion 72communicating between the vehicle corner posts 28 and the door receivingwell portion will thereby produce a reinforced vehicle corner andutilize the strength of the step assembly and the door receiving wellportion to reinforce the corner of the vehicle. Also, the presentinvention permits the stairwell to be completely closed by the slidingdoor 18 thereby preventing debris and snow or ice from accumulating inthe stairwell and creating a dangerous or otherwise undesirablecondition.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate theinvention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar asthe appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who havethe disclosure before them will be able to make modifications andvariations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway passenger vehicle having a side sill member disposedalong each side and longitudinally spaced door members positioned at thevehicle end portions adjacent corner posts and having door lowerportions extending below the side sill member, said vehicle having astep and side skirt assemblyincluding:

step means adjacent an associated corner post;

an extrudedstep support means having .means connected to said corner.post and abutting the step means in a supportive relationship;

a door storage compartment depending downwardly from said side sill andhaving a lower portion connected to said extruded step support means andhaving sheet means and' reinforcing members :extending between the stepsupport means and the side sill thereby providing said door storagecompartment for the door lowerportions;

a skirt end portion including sheet members and reinforcing anglemembers forming a transition means between the door storage portion andthe adjacent side sill member.

2. The invention according to claim 1,.and:

said skirt end portion having access door panel means contained thereon.

3. The invention according to claim 1,:and:

said door storage compartment having rein-forced wall sheet membersspaced about a hollow portion wherein the door moves;

door guide posts attached to the sheet members and adjacent the dooropening.

4. The invention according to claim 1, and:

said door lower portion including abottom portion adjacent the stepsupport means in sealing relationship. V

5. The invention according to claim 1, and:

said door storage compartment including connecting plate means abuttingthe associated side sill thereby forming a structural beam means of thedoor storage compartment for vehicle reinforcement;

6. The inventionaccording to claim 1, and:

said side skirt assembly having post portions extending upwardly fromsaid step support means to form a lower portion of the associated comerpost.

7. The invention according to claim 1, and:

said step support means having a step abutting portion and dependingfinger members.

8. The invention according to claim 7,and:

reinforcing plate means extending between the depending frnger membersto define hollow beam means. i

i 1 IO! 1.! 1K

1. In a railway passenger vehicle having a side sill member disposed along each side and longitudinally spaced door members positioned at the vehicle end portions adjacent corner posts and having door lower portions extending below the side sill member, said vehicle having a step and side skirt assembly including: step means adjacent an associated corner post; an extruded step support means having means connected to said corner post and abutting the step means in a supportive relationship; a door storage compartment depending downwardly from said side sill and having a lower portion con-nected to said extruded step support means and having sheet means and reinforcing members extending between the step support means and the side sill thereby providing said door storage compartment for the door lower portions; a skirt end portion including sheet members and reinforcing angle members forming a transition means between the door storage portion and the adjacent side sill member.
 2. The invention according to claim 1, and: said skirt end portion having access door panel means contained thereon.
 3. The invention according to claim 1, and: said door storage compartment having rein-forced wall sheet members spaced about a hollow portion wherein the door moves; door guide posts attached to the sheet members and adjacent the door opening.
 4. The invention according to claim 1, and: said door lower portion including a bottom portion adjacent the step support means in sealing relationship.
 5. The invention according to claim 1, and: said door storage compartment including connecting plate means abutting the associated side sill thereby forming a structural beam means of the door storage compartment for vehicle rein-forcement.
 6. The invention according to claim 1, and: said side skirt assembly having post portions extending upwardly from said step support means to form a lower portion of the associated corner post.
 7. The invention according to claim 1, and: said step support means having a step abutting portion and depending finger members.
 8. The invention according to claim 7, and: reinforcing plate means extending between the depending finger members to define hollow beam means. 